The People’s Republic of Everything

Nick Mamatas

Welcome to the People’s Republic of Everything. Make yourself at home alongside a hitman who always tells the truth, electric matchstick girls teaming up with Friedrich Engels; a telepathic boy and his dad’s homemade nuclear bomb; and a dog who simply won’t stop howling on social media.

The People’s Republic of Everything

by Nick Mamatas

“[Mamatas] is the People’s Commissar of Awesome.”
—China Miéville, author of Embassytown

Welcome to the People’s Republic of Everything—of course, you’ve been here for a long time already. Make yourself at home alongside a hitman who always tells the truth, no matter how reality has to twist itself to suit; electric matchstick girls who have teamed up with Friedrich Engels; a telepathic boy and his father’s homemade nuclear bomb; a very bad date that births an unforgettable meme; and a dog who simply won’t stop howling on social media.

The People’s Republic of Everything features a decade’s worth of crimes, fantasies, original fiction, and the author’s preferred text of the acclaimed short novel Under My Roof.

Please note that the digital edition does not contain the story “North Shore Friday.” This story appears at the link below with the author’s permission, excerpted from The People’s Republic of Everything copyright (c) 2018 by Nick Mamatas (San Francisco: Tachyon Publications). All rights reserved.

“Each tale is entertaining on its surface, but all hold a deeper meaning . . . This collection will be an easy sell to readers who enjoy genre-blending authors of thought-provoking and topical tales, such as Jeffrey Ford, China Miéville, and Jeff VanderMeer.”
—Booklist, starred review

“The 15 stories in Mamatas’s strong collection show impressive imaginative range, cutting across the boundaries of fantasy and science fiction and veering into territory that defies genre pigeonholing.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Mamatas is such a great novelist that it’s easy to forget he also writes superb short stories. This collection is a testament to his short-form chops, and a powerful one at that.”
—LitReactor

“Nick Mamatas is the gadfly that makes the horse buck—whip-smart and no bullshit and with one hell of a bite. These are canny, nimble stories that navigate between genre and literature, and are unlike what anyone else is writing.”—Brian Evenson, author of The Warren and Fugue State

“How does speculative fiction retain its relevance in an era when daily events feel fictitious and the mere possibility of a future seems speculative? If anyone knows the answer, it’s Nick Mamatas. The People’s Republic of Everything is a great leap forward. Let’s hope there’s somewhere to land.”—Jarett Kobek, author of I Hate the Internet

“Mamatas extracts the essence of several sub-genres and cult followings that are in themselves so niche, obscure, and esoteric and creates a genre that is uniquely him . . . Kerouac’s language, Lovecraft’s atmosphere, and Bukowski’s coarseness.”—Infinite Text

“Nick Mamatas is a sharp, sarcastic, amazing writer whose fiction runs the gamut from horror to speculative to literary . . . a great collection.”
—Lightspeed

About the Author

Nick Mamatas has written seven novels (I Am Providence, The Last Weekend, Love is the Law, The Damned Highway, Sensation, Bullettime, Under My Roof, and Move Under Ground. He has written numerous short fiction that has been published in publications such as Asimov’s Science Fiction and Tor.com, lit journals including New Haven Review and subTERRAIN, and anthologies such as Hint Fiction and Best American Mystery Stories 2013. He has been nominated for the Bram Stoker award five times, the Hugo Award twice, the World Fantasy Award twice, and the Shirley Jackson, International Horror Guild, and Locus Awards. He is an anthologist and editor: The Future Is Japanese and Haunted Legends (with Ellen Datlow). His joke/reference books: Insults Every Man Should Know and Quotes Every Man Should Know have sold thousands of copies.

Mamatas lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Praise for Nick Mamatas

On I Am Providence

“Just what I’d expect from Nick Mamatas: sharp wit, biting but humane social commentary, and, for the romantics among us, a faceless narrator decomposing at the morgue.”
—Matt Ruff, author of Bad Monkeys and Lovecraft Country

“Mamatas knows his subject inside and out, and that makes I Am Providence all the more cutting. He’s a fan himself, as well as a skeptic, and he turns his considerable authority and satirical skill toward skewering the subculture that’s grown up around Lovecraft over the past century.”
—Jason Heller, NPR

“Dark and hilarious . . . I Am Providence is that murder-mystery-in-a-writers-convention you didn’t even know you wanted, but (like the human skin-bound book which propels the plot) you really must buy.”
—Lavie Tidhar, author of Central Station and Osama

“A great choice for readers who enjoyed Matt Ruff’s Lovecraft Country; those who liked the dark humor, mystery, and speculative elements in Ben H. Winters’ The Last Policeman trilogy; and anyone who has ever been part of a fandom.”
—Booklist, starred review

“Dark and funny, a fantastic mix of horror and mystery. It pokes fun at tropes—both meta or otherwise—and successfully skewers some of the more ridiculous aspects of the publishing industry.”
—LitReactor

“What about the Great American Suburban Novel? Somewhere in there, as of now, you almost have to include Nick Mamatas’ Under My Roof, an oddball, occasionally hilarious, surprisingly wise and out-and-out subversive little pocket-nuke of a book.”
—San Diego Union Tribune

On Sensation

“Nick Mamatas continues his reign as the sharpest, funniest, most insightful and political purveyor of post-pulp pleasures going. He is the People’s Commissar of Awesome.”
—China Miéville, bestselling author of The City & the City

“Mamatas is a powerfully acerbic writer, both in fiction and online. His acid wit is infamous, and it is on splendid display in Sensation, which is alive with scornful insight about pop culture, the net, and politics. I recommend it highly.”
—Cory Doctorow, bestselling author of Walkaway

On The Damned Highway

“The book is incredibly entertaining and, aside from a strange turn towards the end, is a great trip through a fictional history of the 1972 presidential elections.”
—HorrorTalk

“[A] a clever, disturbing, and absurd (in the best sense) mash-up of Lovecraft and Hunter S. Thompson that made our recommended gift list for the year.”
—Weird Fiction Review

Walking with a Ghost
Arbeitskraft
The People’s Republic of Everywhere and Everything
Tom Silex, Spirit-Smasher
The Great Armored Train
The Phylactery
Slice of Life
North Shore Friday: Please note that the digital edition does not contain the story "North Shore Friday." This story appears at North-Shore-Friday-copyright-c-by-Nick-Mamatas.pdf, excerpted with the author's permission, copyright (c) 2018 by Nick Mamatas (San Francisco: Tachyon Publications). All rights reserved.
The Glottal Stop
The Spook School
A Howling Dog
Lab Rat
Dreamer of the Day
We Never SleepUnder My Roof